Haaa!
Luna roared as purple flames erupted around her, taking the form of one fox tail. Standing behind her, the youth pulled out a grimoire from his sleeves.
"A one-tailed fox spirit and a novice magus from a noble family. This is a story bound to end in tragedy." Damon laughed mockingly.
"The only tragedy here is you!" Luna hissed before lunging forward.
Bam!
Swish!
Luna's body shot forward like an arrow, shooting through the dark forest. However, Damon was prepared for this and reached swiftly.
"Zeph!"
Using the wind to boost his speed, Damon shot into the air while Luna slammed into the wolf. His gaze furrowed as he felt the convergence of mana toward the cloaked mage.
'He is capable of drawing in this much mana in one go, improving his cast speed. He should have a yellow core.' Damon frowned.
"From the heart of inferno's core, forge a lance of blazing war. Burn and sear, my enemy's bane—pierce the sky with fire's flame!" The cloaked magus changed as a blazing spear of fire appeared in his hands.
Swish!
Without hesitation, the magus flung the spear at Damon, but it was easily dodged. Using Zeph, he propelled himself out of the way with the help of his wind bursts.
"He dodged?" The Magus was dumbfounded.
This was the first time he had seen someone so proficient in using primary magic.
Zeph!
A wind outburst propelled Damon to the ground, before the magus.
"From the heart of inferno's core, forge a lance of blazing war. Burn and sear…"
Pa!
Damon covered the magus's mouth with his palm, while his left fist flew forward.
Zeph!
Using accumulation, Damon temporarily strengthened his body with the world's energy while also unleashing an outburst of wind as his fist struck the Magus, sending him hurling back a few meters.
Bang!
The Magus hit the ground and groaned painfully. He held his belly while coughing violently, desperately choking on his saliva.
'As expected of a novice magus who has never trained his body for once. Weak and fragile.' Damon wasn't surprised by the outcome.
He, too, was once a mage, so he was very much aware of their weakness.
"I will give you a little tip, little magus. When in close-quarters combat with an enemy, abandon spells and rely on primary magic." Damon said to the fallen Magus.
Fortunately for the Magus, Damon wasn't allowed to kill anyone here. However, suppressing a magus who has the help of a fox spirit was bound to be a stressful task.
Damon shifted his attention to Luna, who stood over the wounded wolf. Her right was drenched in blood, while the wolf lay on the ground, its gray fur dyed red with blood. Its wimping cries made Damon frown, his long absence made him forget how physically capable fox spirits were.
Damon had expected the wolf would hold out a bit longer, but it seemed he expected too much from it.
"Is Valysara the one giving the orders?" Damon asked, causing Luna to freeze in shock.
Her ferocious expressions were replaced with confusion as she wondered how this person knew that name. Not even the Hails knew that name, so how was this boy aware of it?
"No?" Damon tilted his head slightly with a frown.
By calling Valysara's names, two things were expected. The first was shocked that an outsider knew the name of the fox queen and murderous intentions, which is an instinct to protect the fox queen's identity.
Damon noticed the confusion, but he didn't feel any murderous intention. It felt like she was aware of the name, but it meant nothing to her.
"Pity… That means I have no reason to help you." Damon said indifferently.
The only reason he was willing to risk his life to help the fox spirits was if Valysara was involved. Since she was not the one leading this faction, then they were not the subordinates he was looking for.
Damon had no reason to hold back anymore.
"Vir!" Damon's eyes released a blood-red light as his palm tore open, and his blood surged out, forming a blood whip.
"Such control over primary magic… Is he a Magus with a strong affinity for dark magic?" The fallen Magus couldn't help but wonder as he saw the smooth formation of the blood whip.
The difference between his control over his wind and blood elements was vast, but only a few would notice the difference.
Haaa!
Luna lunged forward once again, but to her surprise, Damon did not attempt to dodge.
"Umbra…" Damon snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, the darkness within the forest thickened and Damon's figure vanished.
Fox fire!
"You are not getting away!" Luna roared as two floating balls of purple flames erupted around her palms, but they couldn't illuminate the surroundings.
Even though it produced light, it felt like the darkness was constantly consuming its light, limiting its brightness to the location of its user.
"What?!" Luna gasped in shock, only now did she realize something odd about Damon's dark magic affinities.
Pa!
A red whip tore through the darkness, striking Luna's back and tearing her skin in the process.
Aaaah!
Luna cried out as she fell to her knees. The novice mage had risen to his feet, so he rushed over to her side without delay. Grabbing Luna, his eyes widened as he noticed the whip mark on her back.
The wound was already turning green and rotten. Maggots could be seen burrowing in and out of the wound, while a stench of death oozed from it.
The Magus pulled Luna back and noticed she was as pale as a sheet of paper.
"He laced his blood whip with curse magic. What the hell is this kid?" The novice Magus shivered and looked ahead.
In the darkness was a pair of blood-red eyes, glaring at them while his blood whip dangled loosely.
"Demon… Demon!" The novice mage screamed in terror.